Officer Down
by Classlose
Summary: There are some words one would never want to say...
1. Chapter 1

Code 10-00... Officer down...

It was something anyone hoped to never utter. Ever.

Chase felt his spark drop in pulse when he heard the shot.

They had been pursuing a suspect in a tech robbery that late morning when they cornered the miscreant in an abandoned house, most likely used as a temporary base of operations. Chief Charlie Burns ordered Chase to cover the back door in order to block any and all escape routes while the rest of the team were on their way. Griffin Rock was a fairly peaceful place, Charlie assumed the robber would give up as soon as it was realized he was surrounded. He was wrong... dangerously wrong. The suspect fired a round from some sort augmented shotgun through the screen front door. The shot blew out a huge hole in the middle of it and caused the Chief to go flying backwards onto the lawn, sending his communication pin tumbling onto the sidewalk, while the perp rushed over his groaning body to escape down the street.

Upon hearing the loud sound, Chase rushed around the back, "Chief!" and knelt beside him, his hand supporting the man's back. His partner was holding his stomach which was starting to bleed out red into his uniform. The bot read enough to know what this meant for a human, ::Officer down, the Chief is gravely injured, he requires an immediate evacuation! I do not think I can move him... the perpetrator is still at large, armed and dangerous!:: he spoke into the communication link quickly, trying to remain calm.

The responses he got back were filled with underlying panic, though they were trying to keep up their determined work tones. Chase could understand, he too felt a fear that he may lose one of his closest friends... His only relief that Cody was at school and not witnessing this event. He bent over the Chief, "Help is on the way."

"Good to know, partner... Ngh..!" Charlie responded, grunting in extreme pain, and it looked like his eyes were drooping closed and his movements were slowing down.

"Chief..." the police bot was too distraught to do any scans, using his metal fingers to try and stem the flow of the red liquid the best he could.

"Chase... listen to me... I need you to..." He tried talking to Chase but could not quite catch his breath. "I need you... I need you to... look after..."

The sirens of Heatwave approaching was what made Charlie trail off and Chase turn his attention up as Kade frantically jumped out of the firetruck, pulling out a first aid bag. Chase called out, "He is losing consciousness!"

"Don't worry Dad, I've got you... You need to stay awake for us, c'mon." Kade was coaching his father as he packed the wound with gauze, sweat pouring down his face... Or it could be tears, Chase was never quite certain at times. But he had seen field medics wrap up wounds the same way Kade did now, who then unfolded the portable flat board, "Dani is gonna be here any second, we're gonna airlift you to the hospital."

Heatwave transformed and helped Kade move the Chief onto the flat board and secure him just as Blades and Dani arrived by air. They wasted no time in lowering the winch line and hook towards those on the ground.

Kade tugged on the straps that held his dad in place while Heatwave pulled the line and hooked it to the rigging on the flat board, opening communications to Blades, "He's secure, go go go! He doesn't have much time!"

"You can count on us!" was the response as the 'copter-bot pulled the board up and rose into the sky, taking the Chief with him.

Staring after them with evergreen optics, Chase seemed frozen on the spot; only to be startled when Heatwave placed a hand on his shoulder and spoke, "You did the best you could."

"I fear it was not enough..." Chase shut his optics tightly as his face place contorted with regret.

Heatwave glanced away with a pained look and fists clenched tightly, he too hoped his and his partner's efforts were enough...

Speaking of... Kade finally approached the two, his voice seemingly numb, "Graham is on his way to the hospital, we have to go pick Cody up from school." was all he could say.

Heatwave took his hand from Chase's shoulder, "Go to the firehouse... clean up and get some rest." before transforming and opening his cab door for Kade.

Chase furrowed his brow as he watched them go. The silence that followed was unsettling, the onlookers' expressions even more so. He failed his partner, failed his team, and looking at those who gathered, he felt he failed the town too. He bent over and picked up Charlie's discarded comm pin then started to walk down the street towards the fire house, barely keeping up the robot persona, just as Huxley's news van pulled up to do his news coverage of the incident.

Dark clouds started slowly rolling over the island as the entirety of Griffin Rock held its breath as they willed their best wishes for their beloved chief of police.


	2. Chapter 2

Code 10-00

Chapter 2

The sky looked like it might start pouring rain down on them at any moment, its dark hue not helping morale at all...

Kade gripped the metal steering wheel of the firetruck so tightly that his hands were sweating and his knuckles turned white under his fire resistant gloves. His heart felt ice cold in his chest and he feared that it might have stopped beating, if only it were his life on the line at the moment and not... not his father's. His hands started to tremble now...

"Kade..." Heatwave tried to talk to his partner, but for what seemed like an eternity the human remained silent as they drove and the rescue bot was well familiar what an eternity felt like. This felt much worse. The road to Cody's school took a lot longer than it usually did, maybe because this was a race Heatwave did not want to win; probably because at the finish line there would be only be regret and tragedy. This unusual silence was making his tanks churn, this whole situation making him extremely uneasy. For the first time in a long while they both felt helpless.

Kade ignored Heatwave's attempt to rouse him from silence as he continued to brood with the heavy tension that hung in the air creating a near blackout of sound. Suddenly, with a deep exhale and steadying his shaking hands that alerted his partner in the first place, Kade slowly eased the breaks as the firebot stopped at the curbside to the school.

This had to be the hardest part of the job... No... the hardest part about being a big brother.

Having to see your little brother's heart break.

"Stay here." Kade got out of Heatwave's cab and made his way towards the school as though he were on automatic. Not the usual kind of automatic. The fire bot remained in vehicle mode at the curbside as he waited for his partner and Cody. He couldn't take this; the anxiety of the whole situation was making his own metal hide rattle. Or was it still the helplessness of this whole situation making his gears grind? He has never felt so useless in the matters of his human family than ever before.

Heatwave's side mirror turned a bit once he took notice of Kade guiding Cody outside. This was it... He saw Kade kneel down slowly and place a hand on Cody's shoulder and the younger brother looking perplexed at the gesture. The fire bot's spark started to pound, every ounce of him was practically screaming to look away, to spare himself the guilt. But he couldn't. He was in this as much as Kade was.

The bot's side mirror twitched while he watched as Cody's face turned from confusion to horror as Kade spoke and Heatwave felt the ache in his spark pierce him as the boy's hands raised to cover his face. This was just as bad as he anticipated but that did not make it any less painful. He hated seeing Cody in distress and this was no different, if not worse.

He noticed the two walk back over to him, and Heatwave immediately opened both of the doors to his cab. Kade lifted Cody to help him inside and then went around to the drivers side, sliding into the seat silently with his hands on the steering wheel, "Let's go." and proceeded to let Graham know on the comms that they were headed out.

Heatwave knew where they wanted to go, and turned on his loud engine before calmly driving off. Heatwave could take silence from Kade, he cherished it, but silence from Cody made him extremely uneasy, "Cody... I..." but failed at trying to vocalize.

"It's okay, Heatwave. I know." Cody spoke as he stared out the window with his chin in his hand. After a moment, the boy spoke again, "How's Chase doing?"

"Chase... he went back to the firehouse. I think he'll be okay." Heatwave answered, choosing his words carefully. Primus knows he's not the best counselor in the world; better at instigating than healing.

Cody nodded slowly, "That's good." and fell silent again.

The whole drive consisted of a nearly one sided attempt from Heatwave to get them to respond, anything to show there were signs of life in his cab rather than the zombies that seemed to have the life drained from their eyes. Heatwave still did not think he was as eloquent with words for tragic situations as Boulder; however, with how they acted, the chief might as well be dead already. That, he just could not stand for.

"Okay that's it!" Heatwave's tires screeched to a halt, jolting his passengers.

"Hey! What gives?!"

"Heatwave? What's wrong?"

The fire bot's voice echoed in the cab. With Charlie out of the game, it was up to him to pull them together. "This whole thing, this whole situation and I'm not able to do a damn thing to help it! That's how you're both feeling right? Well I feel it too, but I'm not going to stand by while you act like we've already lost! Chief is fighting for his life still and he needs all of our support, he needs us to stay alert and stay focused because he trained you. He wont want this... this despair and I refuse to let you lose to it." He spoke from the spark, feeling his determination rise again with his own words.

Both humans listened before Cody spoke up, "You're right, Heatwave. I'm sorry." he sounded actually understanding.

"Don't be sorry, you both have a right to be upset. Something incredibly wrong has happened, but we can't let it consume us that we lose focus." Heatwave continued.

Kade sighed, "Alright, alright, enough with the inspirational speech. I get it."

"He means that Dad is still alive, he's still fighting and I wont give up on him. Thanks Heatwave." Cody smiled softly towards the center console, appreciating his concern. "Let's get going."

"Don't worry, it looks like we're already here." Kade pointed out the window to the building across the street from where they stopped. It was the hospital with Boulder and Blades outside it already. The copter bot was looking through one of the windows on the second story, no doubt talking to Dani. Both Burns' got out of the cab of the firetruck and rushed up towards the hospital while Heatwave then transformed and moved up to Blades and Boulder, "How's the chief?"

"Still in surgery." Boulder responded, metal brow furrowed with worry. "And Chase hasn't answered his comms. I think he blames himself."

"I'll see if I can get through to him." Heatwave sighed, rubbing his helm. "Chase isn't the type to go and do something reckless but he has surprised me before."

He then turned his attention to the window Blades was peeking through. Heatwave could see Graham with his arm around Dani as they waited anxiously for word. Then Dani opened her arms and welcomed Cody into a tight embrace which was gratefully returned. Heatwave finally gave into looking away, shifting his gaze upwards towards the clouds.

The sky above was still covered in a deep grey, like it so badly wanted to rain...


	3. Chapter 3

Code 10-00

chapter 3

It started with one flower. A single delicate white flower laid out on the steps of the hospital by Mrs. Neederlander holding Mr. Pettypaws closely as she always had, with a saddened look on her aged face. That was quickly followed by more and more flowers joining that one. Soon everyone in town was headed to the hospital with a flower to promote hope that everything will be alright, taking turns to place their precious gift on the cold stone steps that gloomy afternoon.

Shops had closed early and students had been sent home before classes were supposed to end. The gripping distress in every single citizen's heart for their Chief of police... no, their good friend Charlie. Even while the threat of an armed and dangerous man on the loose, folks started to gather together. Each and every one of them knew no one would harbor this fugitive or help him off the island. He was trapped and would be dealt with the up most animosity.

"This is Huxley Prescott reporting live from Elma Hendrikson Memorial Hospital, where the entire town has gathered on the steps waiting and praying for news on our beloved Chief Burns..." Huxley was doing his afternoon news report. "As of right now, the Chief is still in surgery. I will be doing progress reports on the hour, every hour to bring you the latest updates on this _terrible_ tragedy."

On the other side of the building, out of the spotlight, three rescue bots huddled together near one of the two story windows. Inside the building, the four Burns' children waited anxiously for word about their father. While trying to remain calm on the outside, each of them could feel the dread and doubt tightening its suffocating coils around their hearts.

Dani had her arms around Cody to comfort and be comforted herself knowing she was there for her youngest sibling, Kade paced with a fear and anger in his expression building that he needed to keep moving or he'd start breaking, while Graham sat a couple seats away hunched over and fidgeting with his fingers with a pained look on his face. Cody sat in the same spot since he arrived, emotionally tired to the point that his sister's arms around him did not really seem to weigh on him, with his gaze staring out across the waiting room towards the window that the bots were looking through.

Outside, three bots were waiting with just as much unease as the humans. Blades was too distraught, hogging the window as he wanted to be as close to his partner as possible to be there for her physically and emotionally like she had always been for him. Boulder was busy being the solid support for his teammates while everyone around him seemed to be crumbling. Heatwave was still trying to contact Chase at the firehouse as if it were the most important thing in the world right now to make sure his rescue bots were in the same place, safe, but still he had no response back since he sent the police bot home to clean up.

"He's probably taking some alone time. Today... isn't really the best of days for him." Boulder placed a servo on his leader's shoulder plating as he assured his teammate in a gentle voice, though it still had the undertones of worry.

Heatwave narrowed his optics in annoyance as he let out a soft, heated sigh; he'd let it slide for only a little while longer in favor of giving Chase time to sort it out. Its not everyday that one of their own gets hurt and they were each dealing with the stress the best they can. He was worried for his teammate, having seen him so overwhelmingly shocked at the scene earlier. He folded his arms and turned his back to Boulder, "Fine."

Back at the firehouse, in the underground bunker where the bot sized command center was, Chase was fixated on the multitude of screens presented before him. On each monitor screened video feed from all over the island, playing in real time, and not an inch was left uncovered. His optics meticulously scanned each and every single image, leaning over while his digits tapped at the keyboards to play the next files. There was another beeping in his audio again. Heatwave was persistent in trying to get his attention but Chase's desire to see this task through was much much greater. He was going to catch the criminal who hurt his partner... his Chief. There would be no escape from justice.

Suddenly an alert popped up on his screen. One of the cameras in town flagged an individual with features he inputted in the data base to cross-match suspect. It was him. There he was, the perpetrator skulking down an alleyway behind the main street store fronts peering through back door windows; no doubt to take advantage that the whole town was attending the hospital vigil to commit another crime!

Chase's optics narrowed and his jaw clenched tightly. Something burned inside his spark, an emotion he rarely felt that became almost too painful to bear the more he stared at the screen. He saw Chief on the ground again, he heard the dire sound of the gun, he could feel the wet red life liquid on his digits again even though he had already cleaned it off the best he could... Chase practically relived it all in one blinding flash of memory and his servos gripped into tight, trembling fists.

With a new sense of urgency, Chase exited the bunker and quickly transformed to race out of the garage; neglecting the rule of going out without a driver. On his screen he had the camera feeds focused solely on the suspect who was cutting the alarm wires on the cable box outside the backdoor of the Jewelry store. The police car sped up, even pushing the speed limit in this crucial moment. He was closing in fast on the address. Soon he will catch the monster who hurt his friend.

The Chief had been by his side ever since the Rescue Bot's team had first arrived on earth, being his only partner he could ever think to have. Just the thought that he may not ever have Charlie Burns as his companion after today sent a bitter feeling through the police bot's spark and chills through his frame.

::Chase come in, where are you?:: It was Heatwave again... this time though Chase answered him.

"I am in pursuit of the suspect who shot Chief, he is currently attempting to break into the jewelry store." He finally responded, he was nearly there.

::What?! Chase, you shouldn't be doing that alone.:: Heatwave replied with a stern tone.

"I have this under control, and will not be needing assistance. The silent alarms will alert deputy Barney which will no doubt bring him to the scene... after I have apprehended the perpetrator for his safety." Chase sounded logical but there was something about his tone that made Heatwave uneasy.

::Chase! You can't go anywhere without a-!:: But Chase cut communications before his leader could finish his vituperate statement. He needed the silence to prepare himself to face his foe.

At the hospital Heatwave growled in frustration, "I need to go after him. He can't possibly be in the right state to handle this." He spoke to Boulder and Blades, his voice low as he did not want to alarm their human family.

"But you can't go without a driver...There's so many people here." Blades' metal brows knit together with worry. How could they possibly ask the humans when they're in such anguish?

"Take me." A voice spoke to them from the window. Cody grasped the frame tightly, his brow knit with worry, "If something happens, Chase will regret it forever. I can talk to him."

"What about your siblings? What about your dad?" Heatwave moved in closer. "It's okay to stay here, you know."

"I know. I want to wait for my dad just like them, but Chase is family too and my dad's closest friend. Its the right thing to do." Cody spoke, motioning to climb out of the open window quickly into Heatwave's ready hand before his brothers and sister noticed he was gone.

Heatwave slipped Cody into his chest cab before transforming and rolling away from the hospital building quickly.

The entire town still stood looking upon the hospital building in the waning afternoon light, until thunder followed by little droplets of rainfall forced them to disperse back to their homes. Rain started to drip and pour...


End file.
